A guide to Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus

A guide to Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus

It's one of the longest and most difficult pieces in the solo piano repertoire, but what makes Messiaen's 20 contemplations on the baby Jesus such a musical mountain?

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Michael Beek

Published: February 21, 2024 at 4:34 pm

Written in 1944, Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’enfant Jésus is not a piece to be tackled lightly. Although it seems surprising that, as recently as 2001, there were only eight complete versions available to buy, further acquaintance with this 20th-century classic explains the scarcity.

This must be one of the most challenging pieces in the entire repertoire. Vingt regards is a cycle of 20 movements, all based on the idea of contemplations upon the infant Jesus. Familiar figures from the nativity take their turns to gaze upon the child, and there are also contemplations from more abstract sources such as silence, time and the spirit of joy.

The movements add up to more than two hours of listening, and one of the challenges for the player is to maintain their concentration and our interest for that length of time.

Not to mention the technical demands! Four-square rhythms are for the most part brushed aside to make way for Messiaen’s trademark ‘additive’ rhythms: chains of different note-lengths which don’t arrange themselves into a regular pulse.

Tonality is never far away, but there are few guiding key signatures, just dense fistfuls of sharps, flats and naturals organised in a style that’s both decorative and highly athletic.

The best recordings of Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus

Martin Helmchen

Alpha Classics ALPHA243

Michel Béroff

Warner Classics 4769152

Yvonne Loriod

Decca 481 7942

Original text by Sarah Walker

Michael Beek

Reviews Editor, BBC Music Magazine

Michael is the Reviews Editor of BBC Music Magazine. He looks after the 26 pages of recording and book reviews in the magazine each month, deciding what will be reviewed – no easy task with so much being sent in for consideration! Michael joined the team in 2018, following ten years as a freelance film music journalist and fifteen years at St George's Bristol. Film and television music is his favourite thing, and when he’s not listening to things to be reviewed in the mag, Michael loves nothing more than to listen to the music of John Williams and James Horner – his favourite film composers. He was the Editor of MusicfromtheMovies.com and has written for the BBC Proms, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Hollywood in Vienna and Silva Screen Records. His favourite writing gigs so far have been programmes for each of the Doctor Who Proms, soundtrack album notes for Doctor Who – Series 4 and Torchwood – Children of Earth, plus programmes and features for live concert screenings of Jurassic Park, Gladiator, Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark. While he never got the chance to interview the late James Horner, Michael was delighted to spend an hour on the phone with John Williams for the 2020 Christmas issue of BBC Music Magazine. Also a presenter, Michael has hosted concerts and live events for Bristol Film Festival and St George's Bristol, plus Debbie Wiseman's ‘Music and Words from Wolf Hall’ shows at venues across the UK. Michael has worked regularly with Debbie Wiseman over the years, writing concert programmes and scripts (for Terry Wogan and Simon Bates) and producing her 2011 album Piano Stories.
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